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Traditional Beef Bolognese Sauce

Beef Bolognese on a white plate with a plate . Close up. Parmesan Cheese garnish on plate in background.
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 EatSimpleFood.com

Bolognese is a meat and tomato based sauce.  The ground meat is minced while slow cooked for hours with the sauce of milk, wine, and tomatoes.

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cup onion, diced
  • 1 cup celery, finely diced
  • 1 cup carrots, finely diced
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced
  • 2 lb ground beef
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 2 cups dry white wine (sub red if you want)
  • 56 oz Italian plum tomatoes, diced w/ juices
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated as garnish
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1 lb spaghetti, cooked according to instructions or zucchini noodles

Instructions

  • Bring a large stockpot to medium high heat and add butter and olive oil until melted.
  • Add onion, carrots, and celery.  Cook ~ 3-5 minutes covered or until onions are translucent and vegetables soft.  Reduce heat if needed.
  • Add beef, garlic, salt, and black pepper.  Crumble the meat with the back of a large fork or spatula until minced.  This can be a work out because you want it minced and not big chunks of ground beef.
  • When beef is cooked and browned, add 2 cups whole milk, bring to a boil & simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, ~ 30-35 minutes or until milk/liquid has cooked off.  
  • Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer an additional 30-35 minutes uncovered or until it has evaporated.  
  • Add the tomatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer uncovered ~ 1 - 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
  • Taste and season with salt and pepper.
  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta.  Cook ~ 8-12 minutes or until desired consistency.  Drain pasta.  
  • Plate and top with sauce OR mix 1/2 the sauce with the noodles and top with additional meat sauce.  Garnish with Parmesan cheese.  Happy Eating!  Beckie

Notes

  • The milk will look dirty, cloudy, and a bit foamy when cooking.  This is how it's supposed to look - trust the process!
  • If the beef sauce starts to dry out when cooking the tomatoes for so long, you can add 1/2 cup of water at a time, but by the end there should be no liquid left and you will see the fat separate from the sauce.
  • Hungry?  This is the long way to make the sauce.  If you're starving, cut the process short after simmering the tomatoes for 30 minutes.  It won't be traditional and thick but it will have more sauce like your regular ole spaghetti and sauce recipe.

Find it online: https://eatsimplefood.com/beef-bolognese/